EDINBURGH THEATRES, CINEMAS AND CIRCUSES 1820 - 1963 by GEORGE BAIRD First published in 1964 Copyright © George Baird 1964 Set in Times New Roman 12 pt by George F. Baird, July 2000 ii The prime and humble duty of the student of contemporary history is to establish the elementary record before it is dissipated. iii iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword xi 1:19 NICOLSON STREET FROM 1820 TO 1892 1 Ducrow’s Circus, 1820; Andrew Ducrow; Phillip Astley and his London Circuses; Royal Amphitheatre, 1830; James Thorpe Cooke’s Circus, 1846; Pablo Fanque’s Amphitheatre, 1853; Dunedin Hall, 1854; Cooke’s Royal Circus, 1858; Sanger’s Circus and Hippodrome, 1859; Southminster, 1863; Hengler’s Circus, 1863; Three Fires; Southminster fire, 1875; Queen’s Theatre, 1875; Queen’s Theatre fire, 1877; Two Queen’s Theatres; Weldon’s Circus, 1877; Watson’s Grand Cirque, 1879; Newsome’s Circus, 1879; Newsome’s fire, 1887; Newsome’s re-opened, 1888; Site of Newsome’s Circus acquired by H.E. Moss, 1890; Moss’ Empire Palace of Varieties opened 1892. 2: THE STORY OF MR H.E.MOSS (LATER SIR EDWARD) AND, IN THE MAIN, HIS ACTIVITIES IN EDINBURGH 14 Born near Manchester, 1852; Myriorama operator at the age of 16; Manager of a theatre in Greenock; Moved to Edinburgh in 1875 and became tenant of the Gaiety, Chambers Street; Bought No. 5 Chambers Street and opened Moss’ Theatre of Varieties (Gaiety), 1877; Set standards for clean fare; Notoriety and Marie Lloyd; Waverley Market Carnival, 1885; Princess Theatre, Leith, 1889; Closed Gaiety and opened the Empire Palace Theatre of Varieties, 1892; Bought Tabernacle, Greenside Place, 1894; First Moving Pictures in Edinburgh shown in Empire, 1896; Extracts from Moss’ Empires Limited Jubilee Brochure, 1889 –1949; Knighted in 1905 and his other Honours; Empire fire May 1911, death of Lafayette; Temporary Home in Theatre Royal, Empire reopened August 1911; A popular Landlord; Keen Free Mason; Died at Middleton Hall, 1912. 3: SOME OF THE MUMMERS WHO PLAYED AT THE EDINBURGH EMPIRE 26 The Show Must Go On; Saturday Night at the Empire; the author marries Daisy Fraser; The Edinburgh Room and the National Library help with the author’s research; Booed Off – Intolerance; Some of the Mummers seen by the author: Charles Chaplin, Lottie Collins, Florrie Forde, Gertie Gitana, Albert Wheelan, Chirgwin, Little Tich, Eugene Stratton, Gracie Fields, Will Fyffe, Albert Chevalier, Cinquevalli, Jackson, Harry Weldon, Vesta Tilley, Charles Coburn, Tommy Lorne, Dave Willis, Harry Gordon, Mark Sheridan, George Robey, Harry Lauder; Hail and Farewell; Tolerance; Thanks for the Memory 4: THE EMPIRE: CHANGE AND DECAY,1927 – 1962 34 Theatre closed from November 12th 1927 to September 29th 1928 for reconstruction; Re-opened on 1 October 1928 with a production of ‘Showboat’; New Policy – spaciousness and comfort; New Wing added to South Side, 1938; Luxury Waiting Rooms, Eliminating Congestion, Lounges, Car Park; Death of Ma Ladley, supervisor of female staff; Death of G.H.Elliot; Christmas and New Year Season, 1961/’62; Last performances of ‘Oklahoma’, given on January 27th 1962; Sale of Empire to Mecca Bingo, 1963; New Empire Casino opened March 1963 5: MOSS’ CARNIVALS IN THE WAVERLEY MARKET 38 Town Council took over vegetable market from North British Railway, 1869; Waverley Market opened 1877; Town Council approved the Waverley Market being used for concerts, 1880, and gave H.E.Moss food for thought; How H.E.Moss came to pioneer the Waverley Market Carnival; His first New Year Carnival, 1885- ’86; Full programme for the Third Carnival, 1887 –’88; Carnival opened 12 hours daily; The Gallery as a Grand Stand; Author’s reminiscences of the Carnival; Rent of Waverley Market for the Carnival; Attendances at Carnival; Carnival Christmas Tree; Death of Sir Edward Moss in 1912, end of an era. 6: THEATRE ROYAL, SHAKESPEARE SQUARE Now the site of the General Post Office DECEMBER 9th 1769 TO MAY 25th 1859 42 Foundation Stone laid 1768; First in Scotland to be granted a theatre licence; Opened 1769; Visit by King George IV 1822 for a performance of Rob Roy MacGregor; Management accused of paying insufficient salaries to performers, 1822; Mrs Henry Siddons’ patent of Theatre Royal ended in 1830; Article by John S. Clarke on Sir Henry Irving; Theatre closed 1859 - compulsorily bought by Government to build the General Post Office which opened in 1866 v 7: BROUGHTON STREET SITE: THE HOME OF MANY THEATRES FROM 1788 TO SATURDAY, MARCH 30th 1946 47 Jones and Parker’s Circus, 1788; Edinburgh Equestrian Circus or Amphitheatre, 1790;Saddler’s Wells, 1793; New Theatre Circus, 1795; Jones’ Royal Circus, 1796; Royal Circus, 1797; Corri’s New Rooms, 1803; New Theatre Royal, 1809; Reverted to Corri’s Rooms, 1812; Pantheon, 1817; Caledonian, 1823; Adelphi, 1833; Five Fires, 1853, 1865, 1875, 1884 and 1946; Queen’s Theatre and Opera House, 1855; Theatre Royal, from 1859 until Saturday, March 30th 1946. 8: EDINBURGH PANTOMIMES 59 Theatre Royal pantomimes in the 1890’s; the Grand Pantomime, 1904; Pantomimes during the 1914 –1918 War, in 1939-1940 and in 1945 for the Home Coming Warriors; decline in the number of theatres suitable for presenting pantomimes; Pantomimes -then there were some, now there are none in the 1962-1963 Season!; The Space Age. 9: 50 NICOLSON STREET 62 New Royal Alhambra, 1862; Princess’s Theatre, 1863; Royal Princess’s Theatre 1868 to 1886; Cinema House, 18 Nicolson Street, now the Salvation Army’s Congress Hall; La Scala Electric Theatre, “Ye Olde Princess Theatre” 1912. 10: THE CASTLE TERRACE SITE 68 Edinburgh Theatre, Winter Garden and Aquarium Company, Castle Terrace, 1875 or, for short, Edinburgh Theatre, sometimes known as the West End Theatre; Theatre closed in 1877 and building bought by United Presbyterian Church, Synod Hall, 1877; Synod Hall bought by Edinburgh Corporation, 1902; Oldest Synod Hall tenant, Edinburgh Geological Society, 1885; Three Play-Bills relating to other branches of the Poole family; The start of Poole’s in the Synod Hall; Poole’s brochure, “100 Years of Showmanship, 1837-1937”; Last of Myriorama shows, 1928; Harmony Nights, 1928; Poole’s became permanent tenants of the Synod Hall, 1929; The Talkies, 1929; John Poole on Early Cinema Days; How Talkies Came To Town; Poole’s pioneer work on the Talkies; “The Singing Fool”, 1929; Kinematograph Year Book for 1915 - Colin Bennett on ‘Technical Progress of the Year’; J.K. Stafford Poole on How Things Have Changed Since the Myriorama; Poole’s, Synod Hall, closed in 1965; The Castle Terrace Site occupied by the Saltire Court, an office block, in October 1991 11: LYCEUM THEATRE, GRINDLAY STREET 87 How the area lying to the east of Lothian Road was transformed in the second half of the 19th Century and early 20th Century; Article on the new Lyceum Theatre; Opening of Lyceum Theatre on 10 September 1883, with Irving and Terry appearing in “Much Ado About Nothing”; Comparison of Opening Night prices with those charged for “Rob Roy” in 1963; Eva Moore, Christmas 1915, and some famous players of yesteryear; Moving Pictures in the Lyceum, 1912; Benefit performances for the “Titanic” widows and orphans, 1912; Royal Visits: King George V, 1931; Queen Elizabeth, 1955; King Olav of Norway, 1962; Reconstruction Scheme, 1935;Tribute to John Masterton, manager of Lyceum, 1929-1939; Sir John Martin Harvey; “Worlds Without End”, 1946; What does the future hold for the Lyceum?; Proposal for a Civic Theatre, 1961; Edinburgh Corporation reached agreement with Mr Meyer Oppenheim on the terms for redeveloping the Lyceum-Castle Terrace site, 1963 12: THE GAIETY, KIRKGATE, LEITH Saturday, November 6th 1886 (start of Concerts) to Saturday September 15th 1956 106 The Kirkgate United Presbyterian Church, 1775- 1886; Carters’ Incorporation, attached to the U.P. Church, used as an auxiliary Music Hall by H.E. Moss in the 1880’s; Concerts in Old U.P. Church 1886; Old Church destroyed by fire 1888; Leith Pilot Annual; Moss opened Princess’ Theatre 1889; Theatre reconstructed and opened as the New Gaiety Theatre, 1899; Electric Light installed, Chalmers Cinematograph shows, 1900; Gaiety Sunday Concerts, 1903-1911; Structural alterations to Gaiety, 1913, when it virtually became a picture house; Gaiety reverted to ‘live theatre’, 1944; Depopulation lead to Gaiety being closed, 1956 13: 5 CHAMBERS STREET 117 Chambers Street formed in 1870 to link George IV Bridge and the South Bridge; The Gaiety, opened Monday, July 5th 1875; Moss’ Theatre of Varieties opened December 24th 1877, closed on Saturday, November 5th 1892; Sunday Night Meetings, 1875-76; Operetta House opened Monday December 26th 1892;Moving pictures shown in the Operetta House, 1900; Debunking of statements made about when moving pictures were first shown in the Operetta House; Operetta House closed on Saturday December 23rd 1939; Operetta House converted to National Health Insurance Office, 1948, and demolished in 1950 to make way for Adam House, opened in 1955. vi 14: ST. STEPHEN STREET SITE 131 Tivoli Theatre opened on 11th November 1901; The Grand Theatre opened on 10th December 1904; Building used as a Riding Academy prior to the opening of the Grand Picture House on 31st December 1920; The Grand Cinema closed in 1960. 15: KING’S THEATRE, LEVEN STREET 134 Ground for Theatre obtained from Thomas J. Malcolmson, grocer, 1905; King’s Theatre opened on 8th December 1906; Two houses nightly from 1911; Theatre acquired by A Stewart Cruickshanks, 1928; King’s Theatre not to be a cinema, 1936; Bertha Cassie, Only female Switchboard Operator in Edinburgh,